[Penguinsaysquack]

Hello

To keep things short and sweet, the TSR Medicine Mods would like to ask a few questions about one of our wiki pages, and would appreciate as many replies as possible, whether a positive or negative reply, just try to keep things constructive

The page under discussion is the Medicals and Applicants Profiles page which can be found here: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki...cants_Profiles

We were wondering:

1) Did you know previously that the page existed?

2) Have you/would you use the page as a resource?

3) Do you have any comments/suggestions about the page in order to make improvements?


Just as a side note, the current colour scheme works so that a person's firm choice is given a lime green background. The proposed change is that current medical students at that medical school receive a lime green background, with doctors that graduated from that medical school given a light blue background.

[Normandy114]

1) Knew the thread existed, didn't know that it was also a wiki resource.

2) Yes, have used it before

3) Should include the explanation of the colours on the wiki page. Could maybe add the year of application next to the applicant names so that it's a bit easier to tell what applications are relevant to current admissions since they change over time. Other than that though it looks good, could do with a bit of updating though.

[Glacier]

(Original post by Penguinsaysquack)
Hello

To keep things short and sweet, the TSR Medicine Mods would like to ask a few questions about one of our wiki pages, and would appreciate as many replies as possible, whether a positive or negative reply, just try to keep things constructive

The page under discussion is the Medicals and Applicants Profiles page which can be found here: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki...cants_Profiles

We were wondering:

1) Did you know previously that the page existed?

2) Have you/would you use the page as a resource?

3) Do you have any comments/suggestions about the page in order to make improvements?


Just as a side note, the current colour scheme works so that a person's firm choice is given a lime green background. The proposed change is that current medical students at that medical school receive a lime green background, with doctors that graduated from that medical school given a light blue background.

1) Yes
2) Yes
3) I've made a few suggestions:

• Some links don't work (e.g. http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/show...8&postcount=21)
• As Normandy114 said, I think that it would be helpful to list the applicants by the year of entry with the most recent at the top, since the selection criteria change over time, and older profiles might be less useful.
• Possibly separate GEP/GEM from A100 if there are enough profiles for these.
• Maybe have a separate column for those interviewed, but not given an offer, since the data in the profiles is mostly used for pre-interview shortlisting.

I hope some of this has been useful. I know how to use wiki markup, so I can help with implementing any changes if necessary.

[Orinincandenza]

(Original post by Penguinsaysquack)
1) Did you know previously that the page existed?

2) Have you/would you use the page as a resource?

3) Do you have any comments/suggestions about the page in order to make improvements?

1) Yes

2) Yes, although only in general terms

3) While i think it's useful to get a general feel for what qualifications get what result where, there are so many different things that can affect an application i think it's misleadingly useful, as after viewing a few profiles it can give a false impression of definitive aspects needed to get in or that result in rejection, not sure what could be done, except getting more profiles.

[KingGoonIan]

You could add a key to the page explaining what it means when someone's name has been highlighted (I imagine it means they went to the said university?).

[Quackers93]

1) I knew the thread existed but never realised there was a wiki page for it.

2) If I had realised the page existed I definitely would have looked at it when consider reapplying. It would have been useful to see what the successful applicants at my chosen uni 'had' that I didn't when applying first time round.

3) - The year of the admissions cycle would be very useful. The only reason I knew what year it was, was because my name.
- Perhaps you could highlight those applicants who were unsuccessful but had an interview in a different colour because I think it'd be useful to know when looking at the profiles
- oh and a key, as pretty much everyone else has said

[purplefrog]

1) Did you know previously that the page existed?
yes

2) Have you/would you use the page as a resource?
yes and I now frequently link it in my posts to many a applicant who asks "what do most applicants who applied to XXXXX do for GCSE/ECs/Work Exp etc. etc.

3) Do you have any comments/suggestions about the page in order to make improvements?
I didn't understand the colour scheme at all when I used it. I assumed green = currently at the uni. And I had no idea what blue meant. So definitely explain what the highlights mean at the top of the page! I think having green as those currently at the uni is far better as it allows people to ask/PM such people to ask what life is like there and course-specific questions that somebody who firmed (and missed the offer) might not know.

What I did find irritating was the users were not in chronological order of applying so it made it harder to spot patterns (e.g., potential BMAT/UKCAT cut-offs etc.) but I easily worked around that and just re-ordered tabs etc.

I can't remember if it was currently there or not, but it would be good to label the GEP candidates separately if the medical school runs a parallel GEP programme that considers them separately. If they are like UCL where grads join the undergrads, then its fine to keep them together.

[Vulpes]

1) Did you know previously that the page existed?
Yep.

2) Have you/would you use the page as a resource?
Maybe. It would be useful to know my seniors / people who graduated from my medical school in the past. However, most of my questions can be easily answered by posting in the TSR medics thread.

3) Do you have any comments/suggestions about the page in order to make improvements?
Not sure if the page was locked originally but it would be good to open it up for editing. Adding the year of entry and type (foundation, undergrad, GEP) would be useful too.

[BethaneyJ]

1) Did you know previously that the page existed?

Nope

2) Have you/would you use the page as a resource?

Yes!

3) Do you have any comments/suggestions about the page in order to make improvements?

Explain the green
Southampton and other access courses listed next to but separately from the uni in question.
Some BM6ers for soton not identified as BM6
Perhaps something to show if someone had an offer from elsewhere next to their name when listed as unsuccessful (e.g. an asterisk next to a name for someone who didnt get into BSMS but got in somewhere else)

useful page though

[Hippokrates]

1) Did you know previously that the page existed?
Yeah
2) Have you/would you use the page as a resource?
Yeah I used to use it all the time. Not so much any more though because the thread is more up to date.
3) Do you have any comments/suggestions about the page in order to make improvements?
As already stated the year of entry would be useful so you don't click on any that are too outdated. Maybe have a colour scheme or something denoting if they got an offer or interview. I would definitely make successful applicants include those with post interview rejections because after all the information in the profiles is relevant to getting interviews more than offers.

[Natalie21]

(Original post by Penguinsaysquack)
.

1. Yes I did know it exists.

2. Yes I have used it as a resource when researching what type of application profile is required for each medical school.

3. Making it easier to get to from the medicine forum? A link somewhere? (There probably already is one, I'm just not aware of it) :P

[-Neuro-]

1) Did you know previously that the page existed?

Yes.

2) Have you/would you use the page as a resource?

YES!

3) Do you have any comments/suggestions about the page in order to make improvements?[/b]

Maybe a bit more up to date with the non-wiki medical and applicants profile thing. I haven't seen to many entries from this year or last year. Adding a date of entry next to the username would be good too as admissions procedures change over the years. Nonetheless a good resource though

[thegodofgod]

(Original post by Penguinsaysquack)
1) Did you know previously that the page existed?



2) Have you/would you use the page as a resource?

I have used it... a lot

3) Do you have any comments/suggestions about the page in order to make improvements?

If you could order the applicants in terms of the year in which they applied (and write the year alongside the name), it would be a lot easier to work out cut-offs, trends etc.

..

[digitalis]

My two cents into this would be to merge the applicants profile sticky into the wiki page...there seems to be rather a lot of stickies at the top right now which might mean they lose their effectiveness.

[ViceVersa]

1) Did you know previously that the page existed?

Knew about the thread, but no not the wiki page

2) Have you/would you use the page as a resource?

I would indeed

3) Do you have any comments/suggestions about the page in order to make improvements?

Alphabetical order, opening up for editing, and...that green colour

[groovyangel2008]

1) Did you know previously that the page existed?
I knew about the stalking page but not the wiki page? Not really sure why the wiki page is needed, why not just keep it only as a stalking page?

2) Have you/would you use the page as a resource?
Well I used the stalking page more when I was applying.

3) Do you have any comments/suggestions about the page in order to make improvements?
I think maybe adding the date of application onto the wiki page would be useful. Also this is totally going off track but I was reading the articles on TSR about first year medical experiences that were written by some TSR users and I noticed there aren't any from students who have completed the first year of the GEP course. I would have loved to have been able to read an article about a year in the life of a first year GEP medical student?
Furthermore, you could get some of these people who have firmed their offer to talk about their 1st year medical experiences when they have completed it (if they wish) and perhaps provide a link with it on this wiki page. I know I wouldn't mind talking about my experiences when I've completed the first year of my graduate entry medical course.
This site is just great anyway, found it so beneficial when I was applying!

[Penguinsaysquack]

Hey everyone, thank you very much for taking the time to respond to this, I'm glad to see the page is getting used, more so than expected and we've taken everything you've said on board.

Couple of things a lot of you have mentioned:

Dates - This makes sense, year of entry will be added next to applicants' name
Colour code key - Also makes sense, not too much hassle so should be up soon
Mentioning who was interviewed, this will be sorted out as to how is best to display this information
GEP/GEM/BM6 separate - I'm not sure there are enough of these to warrant their own tables, but they do deserve to have something to identify them

(Original post by Glacier)
1) Yes
2) Yes
3) I've made a few suggestions:

• Some links don't work (e.g. http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/show...8&postcount=21)
• As Normandy114 said, I think that it would be helpful to list the applicants by the year of entry with the most recent at the top, since the selection criteria change over time, and older profiles might be less useful.
• Possibly separate GEP/GEM from A100 if there are enough profiles for these.
• Maybe have a separate column for those interviewed, but not given an offer, since the data in the profiles is mostly used for pre-interview shortlisting.

I hope some of this has been useful. I know how to use wiki markup, so I can help with implementing any changes if necessary.

Some of those links that don't work appear to be because a user has deleted their post that it linked to, so in those instances if you let us know then we can remove them
I'm not sure there are enough GEP/GEM candidates atm to warrant their own tables, but it's worth noting that they are GEP/GEM (some of them already have so)

(Original post by Orinincandenza)
1) Yes

2) Yes, although only in general terms

3) While i think it's useful to get a general feel for what qualifications get what result where, there are so many different things that can affect an application i think it's misleadingly useful, as after viewing a few profiles it can give a false impression of definitive aspects needed to get in or that result in rejection, not sure what could be done, except getting more profiles.

I think that's a case of it'll get more reliable with more people adding to it, not a lot we can do about that atm I'm afraid

(Original post by Vulpes)
1) Did you know previously that the page existed?
Yep.

2) Have you/would you use the page as a resource?
Maybe. It would be useful to know my seniors / people who graduated from my medical school in the past. However, most of my questions can be easily answered by posting in the TSR medics thread.

3) Do you have any comments/suggestions about the page in order to make improvements?
Not sure if the page was locked originally but it would be good to open it up for editing. Adding the year of entry and type (foundation, undergrad, GEP) would be useful too.

Re seniors, could change but proposed plan is to highlight graduated applicants as light blue, and current students as lime green, so you can know the year of entry and figure out who your superiors are

The page is locked as it's a bit of a mess and if someone who doesn't really know what they're doing edits it they're probably going to cause more hassle than it's worth, also avoids vandalism. I will pass on the suggestion about opening it up to editing to the other mods

(Original post by BethaneyJ)
1) Did you know previously that the page existed?

Nope

2) Have you/would you use the page as a resource?

Yes!

3) Do you have any comments/suggestions about the page in order to make improvements?

Explain the green
Southampton and other access courses listed next to but separately from the uni in question.
Some BM6ers for soton not identified as BM6
Perhaps something to show if someone had an offer from elsewhere next to their name when listed as unsuccessful (e.g. an asterisk next to a name for someone who didnt get into BSMS but got in somewhere else)

useful page though

I'm not sure about that asterix idea but can see where you're coming from (though if they followed the link then they could see their application stats). Will mention it to the other mods and see what they think

(Original post by Hippokrates)
1) Did you know previously that the page existed?
Yeah
2) Have you/would you use the page as a resource?
Yeah I used to use it all the time. Not so much any more though because the thread is more up to date.
3) Do you have any comments/suggestions about the page in order to make improvements?
As already stated the year of entry would be useful so you don't click on any that are too outdated. Maybe have a colour scheme or something denoting if they got an offer or interview. I would definitely make successful applicants include those with post interview rejections because after all the information in the profiles is relevant to getting interviews more than offers.

I'm reluctant to let successful applicants include those that were rejected post-interview, but making note of those that were interviewed seems to be important so likely to change.

(Original post by Natalie21)
1. Yes I did know it exists.

2. Yes I have used it as a resource when researching what type of application profile is required for each medical school.

3. Making it easier to get to from the medicine forum? A link somewhere? (There probably already is one, I'm just not aware of it) :P

Viewing the medicine forum page, there's a great big logo link to the main wiki page, it's under miscellaneous on there alongside the stalking wiki pages

(Original post by digitalis)
My two cents into this would be to merge the applicants profile sticky into the wiki page...there seems to be rather a lot of stickies at the top right now which might mean they lose their effectiveness.

EDIT: sorry, missed you digi.

That's not really possible as far as I'm aware, it would require users creating their own wiki pages and then linking to that instead of posts, which a lot of people wouldn't be quite so good at doing

Will raise the issue of stickies, but here's one less for the time being now

(Original post by ViceVersa)
1) Did you know previously that the page existed?

Knew about the thread, but no not the wiki page

2) Have you/would you use the page as a resource?

I would indeed

3) Do you have any comments/suggestions about the page in order to make improvements?

Alphabetical order, opening up for editing, and...that green colour

I like the green though
Other points have been covered elsewhere in this monster post, except alphabetical order, I think by year of entry is more important, but then it could be alphabetical after that.

(Original post by groovyangel2008)
1) Did you know previously that the page existed?
I knew about the stalking page but not the wiki page? Not really sure why the wiki page is needed, why not just keep it only as a stalking page?

2) Have you/would you use the page as a resource?
Well I used the stalking page more when I was applying.

3) Do you have any comments/suggestions about the page in order to make improvements?
I think maybe adding the date of application onto the wiki page would be useful. Also this is totally going off track but I was reading the articles on TSR about first year medical experiences that were written by some TSR users and I noticed there aren't any from students who have completed the first year of the GEP course. I would have loved to have been able to read an article about a year in the life of a first year GEP medical student?
Furthermore, you could get some of these people who have firmed their offer to talk about their 1st year medical experiences when they have completed it (if they wish) and perhaps provide a link with it on this wiki page. I know I wouldn't mind talking about my experiences when I've completed the first year of my graduate entry medical course.
This site is just great anyway, found it so beneficial when I was applying!

The stalking page is for one year only and provides the very basic info, this page is for all years and acts as links to posts in a thread where people have submitted some information about their application for others to see

Yet another wiki page that could do with some TLC, it would indeed be nice to get more accounts by people on that page, and also see how people have found other years to be. It's something I'll raise with the other mods and it would be great if you would feel like contributing in a years time



Thank you everyone, you've given me a lot to think about so we (TSR medicine mods) will try to take these things into account and improve this page for you. Please note that it's not going to happen overnight as there's a lot of work to be done here, but it should look a lot better when completed. Thanks!
PSQ

[Quackers93]

(Original post by Penguinsaysquack)

The stalking page is for one year only and provides the very basic info, this page is for all years and acts as links to posts in a thread where people have submitted some information about their application for others to see

Yet another wiki page that could do with some TLC, it would indeed be nice to get more accounts by people on that page, and also see how people have found other years to be. It's something I'll raise with the other mods and it would be great if you would feel like contributing in a years time



Thank you everyone, you've given me a lot to think about so we (TSR medicine mods) will try to take these things into account and improve this page for you. Please note that it's not going to happen overnight as there's a lot of work to be done here, but it should look a lot better when completed. Thanks!
PSQ

If this page is for all years, would you have the date of application next to each name? Because say for St Andrews, you'd see me in the unsuccessful applicants list for 2010/11 but then in the successful for 2011/12 which could look confusing. Or would it be in lists like 2011 - all applicants, 2012-all applicants maybe? Sorry, you've probably not decided yet, but I just wondered

[Penguinsaysquack]

(Original post by Quackers93)
If this page is for all years, would you have the date of application next to each name? Because say for St Andrews, you'd see me in the unsuccessful applicants list for 2010/11 but then in the successful for 2011/12 which could look confusing. Or would it be in lists like 2011 - all applicants, 2012-all applicants maybe? Sorry, you've probably not decided yet, but I just wondered

Subject to change, but it would be university - all years, rather than year - all universities if that makes sense.

I'm sure people will figure out pretty quickly that the reason people like you and I are listed twice for different years is that we applied twice during different years

[Quackers93]

(Original post by Penguinsaysquack)
Subject to change, but it would be university - all years, rather than year - all universities if that makes sense.

I'm sure people will figure out pretty quickly that the reason people like you and I are listed twice for different years is that we applied twice during different years

Yeah I get you now, sounds good You'd assume most people would get it relatively quickly, though tbh I'd probably have been one of those people who'd be dead confused over it haha